


"The stars look very different today."

by caitastrophe8499



Series: Lost in Streams of Sound [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: David Bowie - Freeform, F/M, Loosely connected, Song Lyrics, but in no particular order, prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 06:59:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10985784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitastrophe8499/pseuds/caitastrophe8499
Summary: A series of prompts pulled from David Bowie lyrics. All in the same timeline, unless otherwise stated, but may not be in order.





	"The stars look very different today."

Series Title: Lost in Streams of Sound

Title: “The stars look very different today.”

Lyrics from “Space Oddity” by David Bowie.

 

* * *

 

 

Sara leaned against the hull of the  _ Waverider _ , the cold wind inching through her coat and kissing up her skin. She crossed her arms and hunkered her shoulders in, but didn’t make any move to go inside the ship.

With Rip’s departure and Amaya’s decision to stay, the team dynamic had shifted. They weren’t spinning out, they’d been through too much for that to happen now. But it was like their foundation kept shifting, a house built on sand. They needed something to guide them. To direct them.

And then the distress call had come in.

It had been faint, far and distant, but it was there, linking directly into Gideon’s servers to bellow out among the halls.

They’d rushed to the bridge and the computer lit up where it was coming from.

Nate started, “Isn’t that the-”

“Vanishing Point,” Mick rumbled.

“Who could possibly be sending us a signal from there?” Martin asked.

“Legion of Doom?” Jax asked. “Before we kicked their asses?”

**“Negative,”** Gideon responded. **“This is coming from the current timeline.”**

Mick’s fists clenched. “A Time Bastard?”

“We killed them all,” Ray said.

“We killed all the ones who were there.” Sara chewed the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. “What if one was on a ship like this one, and just came back?”

“Could be a trap,” Amaya suggested quietly.

“Trap’s on them when we roll up.” Nate’s grin was confident, but something still felt off.

Jax spoke up, “Could use a trip out there. Scavenge what we can from other Time Master materials as replacement parts.”

“Gideon,” Sara called out. “Can you tell how many people are sending the signal?”

**“Not from this distance, Captain. But if we were closer, I could.”**

“Alright.” She headed to the captain’s chair and strapped in. “We’ll go in, Gideon will tell us how many there are, and we’ll make our move from there. No sense going in blind. Everybody ready?”

The chorus of agreements echoing behind her, Sara set the coordinates in and the  _ Waverider  _ took off.

As soon as they exited the timestream, Gideon was doing her scan. They waited in silence as the faint beeps came through her speakers before the AI spoke.

**“There is only one person.”**

“Okay,” Sara said, getting to her feet. “Ray, suit up. Nate and Firestorm will go down there and see what’s going on. Amaya, Mick, and I will be your unexpected backup should things go sideways.” She turned to the computer. “Gideon, can you get us a visual?”

**“Yes, Captain.”**

Her crew was in various states of suiting up around the console, half their attention on their weapons and armor, the other half on the static image that appeared.

The picture was blurry and out of focus, but Sara stopped checking her knives and took a step nearer to the console.

“Gideon.” Her voice was quiet, drawing the attention of the team nonetheless as the image straightened up.

Mick was right next to her, startlingly quiet for a man of his size. “That’s…” He turned to Sara. “Can you see him, too?”

She nodded, her eyes on the image.

“Snart,” Jax said. “How the hell did he get back here?”

“Gideon,” Sara said again. “Is that...where is he from?”

She held her breath as Gideon considered for a moment.  **“That is not the Mr. Snart we returned to the timeline.”**

“So not the Legion of Doom version,” Ray said. “Then who is it?”

**“It appears…”** For the first time in a long time, Gideon hesitated.  **“It appears to be the version of Mr. Snart from when the Oculus was destroyed.”**

“How can you know that?” Amaya asked suspiciously.

Sara didn’t blame her - just because this Amaya hadn’t been the version the Legion Snart had killed didn’t mean she didn’t suspect him still.

**“This Mr. Snart’s age matches the one from that time. He is several years older and there are traces of the Oculus energy still on him.”**

“How…?” Stein trailed off, all their questions summed up in the single vague word.

“The Spear,” Nate said.

Sara looked up at him, still reeling.

Nate elaborated, “The Spear. You used it. You brought him back.”

“I didn’t,” Sara argued.

Nate glanced at the image, clearly not believing her.

“I didn’t!” She hadn’t told any of them what the Spear had shown her, how she’d been so close to bringing back her sister. If she hadn’t done that, how could she have brought back Snart?

“Maybe,” Mick’s voice cut through the argument that was starting. “Maybe it was me.”

Sara turned to him, but Amaya spoke first. “You willed him back to existence.”

“But you were with the Legion,” Ray pointed out. “You were with Snart.”

Mick shifted, his eyes darting back and forth. “Yeah, I was, but it wasn’t...he wasn’t…”

“He wasn’t Snart,” Sara filled in.

Mick met her gaze and nodded, the two of them in agreement over something she’d thought he didn’t understand. The reason it was so easy for her to fight Snart, to try to hurt him, to stop him, was because it wasn’t the man she knew. It wasn’t him. Not yet. So she could separate herself from him, from the Legion, from the memories, because she knew that the Legion’s Snart wasn’t her-

-wasn’t the man the team had known.

“So when you used the Spear, you brought back the Leonard Snart who sacrificed himself, just back here.” Martin turned to look at Sara, “And when you had the Spear…”

“I undid Doomworld. I didn’t think to get rid of other things outside of that.”

“So that Snart is really our Leonard Snart,” Ray finished.

“The one who sacrificed himself for you,” Nate said.

Sara turned her gaze back to the screen. “Mick, you take Ray and Firestorm down. We’ll be your backup, just in case.”

Mick eyed her for a moment before turning to the others. “Let’s go, Haircut. Professor.”

Sara, Nate, and Amaya watched the console, the three of them on edge for very different reasons.

Nate and Amaya were obviously remembering how the Legion’s Snart had so callously killed her, but they’d heard enough about the Leonard who’d sacrificed himself for the rest of them that they weren’t voicing their concerns.

Sara’s concerns were very different.

They watched their team approach Snart, who stood and faced them, no gun in hand, but still tense. They could hear half the conversation through their comms, though it was mostly Ray talking.

_ “How’s it going?” _ Pause.  _ “Well, it’s been a while for us, too.” _ Pause.  _ “We can explain everything back on the  _ Waverider _.” _

Then they were coming back in.

Sara stayed at the controls, but she saw them lead Snart to the med bay. He glanced at each of them as he passed, no recognition on his face for Amaya or Nate, but his eyes caught Sara’s briefly.

She broke away first, glancing at Jax. “Take Nate and Ray to see what you can scavenge. Mick and Stein will help in the med bay.”

Jax nodded, “Got it, Cap.” By the time everyone followed her orders, Snart was gone.

Then she escaped outside.

And here she had been staying - she wouldn’t call it ‘hiding’ - ever since. The remains of the Vanishing Point swirled around her, blocking out what little starlight made it this far to the edge of space. It was amazing the building housing the Oculus had survived almost completely.

It must have been close to an hour before anyone disrupted her. Her body was used to such long periods of inaction - training from the League. Usually her mind wasn’t quite so complacent to just stand around, but she had enough to occupy herself.

She heard the boots on the metal grate long before the owner took their place next to her. It was obvious who it was - Nate, Stein, and Ray didn’t wear steel-toed boots. Jax did, but he still wasn’t back from his scavenging mission. Amaya had a lighter step and Mick had a heavier one. Only one person left.

Sara didn’t look over, but she spoke first, letting him know she wasn’t shaken. “Captain.”

“Captain,” he returned, the lazy drawl a little quieter than usual. “Congratulations on the promotion.”

“Congratulations on the resurrection.”

He scoffed quietly and even though she wasn’t looking at him, she could imagine his expression: curled lips, half-mast eyes, lounging against the metal ship like it was the most comfortable thing in the world, though they both knew it was far from it.

She could feel him, though. Smell him. Sense him. It was this slight pocket of heat, only barely warmer than the surrounding air, but enough to make a difference. He was crisp air and ozone, undercut with wood smoke. He was a comfort she didn’t realize she’d been missing. A sense of ease.

Everything that had been lacking with the Legion Snart.

“Heard you had a run in with a past me,” he said after a moment.

Sara nodded, knowing that he was staring out into the darkness just as she was, but also knowing he’d pick up on the movement all the same.

“Must have been fun.”

“Wouldn’t be the word I chose.”

“You shouldn’t have had to see that. Me. Like that.” Hesitant was never a word she’d associated with Snart before, but it was the one that seemed to fit. It was almost an apology, if he apologized.

“We’ve all got versions of ourselves we don’t want anyone else to know about.”

He hummed quietly. “Rip’s gone.” Another question he didn’t quite voice.

“Left, alive and well.”

“And the new people?”

“Amaya and Nate. She’s a martial artist and can channel animal powers. He’s our historian who can turn into metal.”

“Perfect fit,” he responded.

She nearly smiled, then he spoke again.

“And me?”

Sara turned for the first time and looked at him. HIs eyes were the same steely blue she remembered, the pale skin, and faint shadow of stubble on his chin. He was painfully familiar, but she found herself finding things she hadn’t noticed - or had forgotten: the slightly crooked widow’s peak, the freckle on his temple, an infinitesimal scar just above his brow. Both possibilities made her stomach twist slightly.

“And you?” she repeated, not certain what he meant.

“There’s been a lot of changes on the ship.”

He was sidestepping the question. The only other time he’d done that was briefly, just before he admitted to having thoughts of a future - their future. He was nervous about whether or not the team still wanted him.

“Hell of a lot of changes,” she agreed. “But we’ve still got a thief-sized hole in our crew.”

The corner of his mouth lifted up slightly. “Glad to hear it.”

She turned out to the sky again, the darkness not seeming quite so consuming now. He stood in silence for a time, then made a quiet observation.

“The stars look very different today.” He paused. “Tonight?”

“Everything’s different at the Vanishing Point,” she muttered, thinking about the Legion and the Spear, what they’d lost and found here when they thought there wasn’t a chance.

“Everything?” he echoed quietly.

She smiled out into the sky, thief at her side and feeling that, though they didn’t quite have a mission to guide them, no enemies to get in their way, things were settling down into a pattern she was not only familiar with, but eager to continue.

Turning her smile on him, she admitted, “Not entirely everything, Len.”

Sara headed back onto the  _ Waverider _ , hearing Leonard Snart - the real Leonard - fall into step beside her.


End file.
